Buddhism in Australia Traditions in Change

164 Lama

0102de

Rinpoche

differentlevels

of

intelligence

is

culturally

irrelevantin

the

west,

especially

ifone

can

graduate

fromonetotheother.itwas

perhaps

useful

tocontrolandmaintain

the

lode-Tibetancastestructure

among

thetraditional

Buddhists.

However.

thereis

nothing

wrong

with

highlighting

the

importance

ofright

intentiontobenefit

others.

either

by

doing

Buddhist

practices

or

anything

elseone

doesinthislife.

However.

the

right

intentionisavirtuethatisnot

dependent

ona

beliefinrebirth.

Basedonthe

Buddhist

teachings

of

compassion

and

non«violence,

people

inthe

west

expect

Buddhiststobe

vegetarian.Many

people

whoturntoBuddhismin

Australiaare

either

alreadyvegetarian

or

expect

tobecomeonewhen

theygo

for

refuge

and

formally

becomeBuddhist.But

becomingvegetarian

isnottheactual

practice

ofcultural

Buddhistswhoare

Thais,

TibetansorSri

Lankans.Monkswho

are

supposed

toliveon

aimscannotrefusewhatisofi‘eredtothem

by

thedevotees

(neither

didthe

Buddha).

Lay

devoteesoffer

carefully

cooked

good

and

healthy

foodtothemonksoutoftheir

devotion.Sincemonks

accept

andeat

meat,

the

lay

devoteesalsodonothesitatetoeat

meat.

Nonetheless,

many

Buddhistsdoobserve

vegetarianism

oncenain

religious

days

oratBuddhistmeditationretreats.

Many

Chinese,

KoreanandVietnamese

Buddhistsobserve

very

strict

vegetarianism

for

life.But

some

vegetariansmay

beintolerant

ofotherswhoare

non-vegetarian

Buddhists.

They

tendtolookdownon

them,evenwithsome

degree

of

pride

(which

isnot

particularly

Buddhist),

Ordinary

Buddhistshavetoeatanddrinkas

they

havenot

yet

achievedfreedomfrom

craving.

Sothe

high

idealsand

expecta-

tionsofwhata

Buddhist

might

eatordrinkis

actually

not

alwayseasy

tofollow.

Some

people

who

are

vegetarian

are

arrogant

but

they

failtoseetheiraffliction.

Mealiseasierto

seethanaffliction.Canthisbethe

effectof

eating

too

many

vegetables?They

may

be

practising

kindness

by

not

eating

animalsbutare

they

contemptuous

towardsthosewhodoeatmeat'.7Itisa

challenge

tobeBuddhists

whoareboth

vegetarian

andtolerantandkindtowards

meat

eating

human

beings.

Contemporarysociety

inthewestandeastcelebrates

a

young

andbeautiful

body

andthe

cultureof

enjoying

abeautifulfon'riorartiswhat

makesushuman

beings
living

in

thedesire realm. Buddhist

teachings

on sexual

conduct

say

many

had

things

about

women'sbodies.Elsewhereit

says

a

beautiful

bod)

isthe

karmicresultof
having
practicedpatience

inone's

past

life.Itisobviousthese

teachings

werewritten

mostly

for

monks

by

monks.

lfihey

werewrittenfornuns.

thereshouldbehonest
descriptions

ofthemale

body.

Some

people

inthewestthink

Buddhist

people

are

happier

becauseoftheir

religion.

Becauseofthis

perception.

gay people

inAustralia

may

think that

Buddhism isa
gay-friendly religion.

But

according

tothetraditional Buddhist

teachingshomosexuality

isnotnaturalandisthereforea

form

of

sexualmisconduct.

However,

inBuddhistmonasteriessamesexrelations

may

beeven

tolerated

while

thosewhohavesexwiththe
oppositegender

aredenouncedand

expelled.

A

lay

person

whois

genuinelytrying

tofollowtheBuddhist

pathmay

find

many

ofthe

teachings

onsexualconductalmost

impossible

tolive

by.

Ofthosewho

try.very

fewdoso
successfully.

Butbecauseofthesocial

pressure

tohaveamonkinthe

monastery,parents

makedecisionsfor

boys

whoareunawareofseriousvowsof

celibacy.

Duetothis

socio—religiouspressure,manyrepress

theirnaturalsexual

Challengesaflcaching

Buddhism

165

feelings

and

pretend

that

they

observeallthesexual

vows,

while

judging

others

unnecessarily.

Do

they

knowthat

judgement

is the

preparation

for

misery

and

eifective

prevention

of

compassion?

The

underlyingmessage

from theBuddha

issafe

sex.

notno sex.As the

teachings

onsexualrestraintare

mainlytaughtby

monksfor

monks:

manylay

people

may

findithardtoseetheirrelevance.

Ihavemet

young

Buddhist

couples

whofeel

guilty

about

having

sexeven

thoughthey

havebannednoone.Thisis

because

they

believethattheirBuddhistvows

restrictthemnot

only

with

regard

towho

they

canhavesex

with.

buthow.where

andwhen

they

canhavesexwith

their

partner.

FromwhatIcan

see.

sex-denying

religions

havecreatedmoresocial

problems

than

they

havesolved.

Thisisnotthefaultofthe

religion

but

people

who

idealize

such

practices

without

being

realistic.The

spread

of

prostitution

inSouth

EastAsian

Buddhistcountries

is

proof

ofthis.Tomost

people

in

contemporary

society,

sexisan

integral

cause

and

part

ofthislife.Most

enjoy

sexandhaveno

desireto

abstainfromit,in

contrast,

therearesomemonkswhochosemonkhood

because theyenjoyrespect

and

may

even becelibateattimes.

Contrariwise,

both

sex

and

respect

canbe

equally

dangerous

if

they

areabused.To

deny

sex

seems

to

reject

anatural

part

of

lifeandone’shumanness.

Seekingrespectby

abstaining

fromsexand

defaming

thosewhohavesexseemsto

only

causefunher

suffering

tothe

already

troubled

world.Distractionscaused

byspiritual

superiority

arising

from

monkhood

may

cause

forgetfulness

ofthevirtueof

compassion.

particularly

when

grasping

onto

righteousness

takesover.

Traditional

Buddhists

in

Asia.

andalsoin

Australia,

respect

those

people

who

wear

robes

over

laymen.

monksovernunsandmonksofone‘sowntradition

over

those

ofother

traditions.

Thisisblatantculturalmaterialism.Itisasbadas

spiritual

materialism.

Buddhists

respect

thoseinrobesandnot

laypeople

in

thesame

way

that

contemporary

Australiansadoreanddesirea

young,

beautiful

body

overan

old

and

frail

one.

They

areboth

equallyworshiping

mereforms.

Inthesame

way

in

which

theeighth-century

lndianBuddhist

monk.Shantideva,says

perfumes

are

not

the

woman'sbody,

onecouldalso

say

thatrobesarenot

themonks‘.

Celihates

who

look

down

onnon-celibatescausedivisionandcreate

anewcaste

system

in

Buddhism.

For

instancetheAustralian

Sangha

Association

founded

only

afew

vears

ago

only

accepts

ordainedcelibatesasitsmembersand

doesnot

accept

hon—celibate

Buddhist

teachersas

eligible

members.If

a-lay

personrespects

a

monk

it

should

bebecausehe

may

havesomefiner

qualities

than

his

celibacy

or

because

heWears

arobe.The

rigid

Buddhist

teaching

on

sexual

morality.may

itself

become

anobstacle

that

prevents

the

dhani-ia

from

reaching

the

vast

majority

whomay

otherWise

benefit

fromBuddhist

teachings.A

liberal

interpretation

ofthe

teaching

on

sexual

conduct

basedonthemiddle

path

is

long

overdue.

_.

Attachment

tocultural

Buddhism isrevealedwhen

various

Buddhist

tradi-

tions

meet

in

thewestand

donot

approve

ofeach

others

Buddha,

chanting,

er

or

architecture.

This

happens

evenbetweenBuddhists

fromSriLankaand

pmxlmd

Marty

cultural

Buddhistshavenotreceived

any

teachings

ontoleranceor

“fitness-

They

areoften

trapped

intheirownculturalattachment

to

doingthings

iori):particular

way.

to

theextentthat

they

cannot

rejoice

inthe

practices

oftheir